Israel: Social media monitoring nabs would-be attackers – ‘Serious attacks’ have dropped from 170 in 2016, to 90 last year, to 25 this year

In this Oct. 26, 2017 file photo, Israeli Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan speaks during an interview with The Associated Press in his office in Bnei Brak, east Tel Aviv, Israel. Erdan said prior to a security conference opening Tuesday, June 12, 2018 in Israel, that authorities have foiled over 200 Palestinian attacks by monitoring social media, sifting through vast amounts of data and identifying prospective assailants ahead of time. While the technology appears to be effective, its tactics drew angry Palestinian condemnation and have raised questions about civil liberties. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit, File)

By JOSEF FEDERMAN, Associated Press JERUSALEM (AP) 06/12 — Israeli authorities have foiled over 200 Palestinian attacks by monitoring social media and sifting through vast amounts of data to identify prospective assailants ahead of time, according to Israel’s public security minister.

These pre-emptive actions put Israel at the forefront of an increasingly popular — and controversial — trend used by intelligence and law enforcement agencies around the world that use big data technology to track would-be criminals. While the technology appears to be effective, its tactics drew angry Palestinian condemnation and have raised questions about civil liberties.

Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan, who oversees the national police force, said Israel’s use of algorithms and other technology has been an important factor in lowering the number of knife and shooting attacks in Israel in recent years. He plans on sharing Israel’s knowledge with counterparts at an international security conference he is hosting this week.

“The experience we now have, we can help other countries deal with this kind of terrorism,” he said. He said working with allies “can lead us to a much better result in fighting lone wolf terrorists.”

But Hanan Ashrawi, a senior Palestinian official in the West Bank, called the Israeli profiling techniques “horrific” and an “added dimension” to Israeli control over Palestinian lives.

“They are trying to justify the various ways in which they violate the Palestinian people’s rights, including the right to due process and the right to privacy, using Facebook and using social media as a means of gleaning information to prove people’s guilt ahead of time,” she said.

In September 2015, Israel found itself facing a wave of stabbings, shootings and car rammings carried out by “lone wolf” attackers, or individuals unaffiliated with militant groups acting on their own. It was a significant departure from past waves of organized violence led by armed groups like Hamas.

Since then, Palestinians have killed over 50 Israelis, while Israeli forces have killed over 260 Palestinians, most of whom Israel says were attackers. However, the number of attacks has dropped significantly — from 170 “serious attacks” in 2016 to 90 last year to 25 this year, according to Erdan’s ministry.

Israel has blamed the attacks on anti-Israel incitement in Palestinian social media, while Palestinians say despondent attackers were driven by a lack of hope after decades of Israeli occupation and repeated failure in peace talks.

Research compiled by Erdan’s office points in both directions. Erdan said that interviews with jailed attackers have found that many suffered from personal problems, such as depression or family pressure to enter an arranged marriage, but were also inspired to act, often with little notice, by violent material online.

Erdan said Israel has turned to various technologies to counter the attacks. That includes facial recognition devices and smart cameras that detect suspicious behavior in real time.

In addition, his ministry, working with the Justice Ministry and Shin Bet internal security agency, has created a team to scour an “ocean of data” on social media for objectionable content and to identify attackers before they act.

Members include psychologists, legal advisers and experts who have developed algorithms that analyze online activity. Violent posts, the suspect’s profile, such as age or hometown, and other supporting evidence are factored into the analysis.

“Every event can lead to a discussion. You have to look for the special words that might lead you to the conclusion that something is dangerous,” Erdan said. “The algorithm leads you to suspect someone.”

The system has nabbed over 200 people who Erdan said confessed that they were planning attacks. Suspects have included both Palestinians and Arab citizens of Israel, including cells allegedly inspired by the Islamic State group.

“When you increase the number of people who are involved in monitoring the social networks, you more and more learn how to define the profiles you are looking for,” he said.

Erdan said there is always a “dilemma” about whether a potential suspect is a serious threat or not, and that police often have just a few hours to decide whether to make the arrest.

“It’s complicated,” he said.

There were no figures on how many innocent people were misidentified as potential suspects. But Erdan’s office said in such cases, the people are quickly released.

Both the Justice Ministry and Shin Bet did not respond to requests for comment.

Ashrawi, the Palestinian official, questioned the claims that suspects had confessed, saying anyone can be pressured into confessing to anything. She also noted that Palestinians are subject to Israel’s military court system, which has a near 100 percent conviction rate. “What is incredible to me, the rest of the world is not horrified by what is happening here,” she said.

Andrew Ferguson, a professor at the David A. Clark School of Law at the University of the District of Columbia, said Israel appears to be one of the world leaders in using big data for policing activity. He said some U.S. police departments have begun using similar techniques, albeit on a much smaller scale due to civil liberties concerns.

“You may be seeing the future in Israel,” said Ferguson, author of “The Rise of Big Data Policing: Surveillance, Race, and the Future of Law Enforcement.”

“Israel is at the cutting edge of using this technology in ways that we haven’t seen in other countries, partly because other countries have been concerned about pushback from civil liberties groups,” he said.

Erdan said he is well aware of the need to strike a balance between freedom of expression and public safety. Judges must sign off on all arrests and be convinced that the suspects truly pose a threat to public safety.

Despite such concerns, he believes the know-how Israel has gathered can help allies deal with similar attacks. He said expertise will be shared with other participants at this week’s conference, which kicks off Tuesday. Participants include U.S. Homeland Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen and to officials from Belgium, Germany, Kenya, Singapore, Spain and other countries.

The agenda will include terrorism, radicalization and cyberattacks. High on the agenda will be government relationships with social media companies. Even with all the technology at his disposal, Erdan said he believes the social media giants should do far more to stop the spread of online hate.

Israel has long urged Facebook and Twitter to remove what it sees as inciting material posted online. Erdan said Facebook has “improved” responses to Israeli complaints, while Twitter is still “very bad.”

A goal of the conference is to rally support for concerted pressure on the social media companies to do a better job of policing content, or to consider common legislation to define “red lines.”

“To create a new world without any kind of rules, that is something that first it’s not fair, and second, it’s endangering the safety of people around the world,” he said.

Terms of Use for Posting Comments

Terms of Use

This site (the “Site”) is operated and maintained by Law Enforcement Education Foundation, Corporation (“Company”). Throughout the Site, the terms “we”, “us” and “our” refer to Company. The words “user,” “you” and “your” as used herein refer to you.

Please read these terms and conditions of use (“Terms of Use”) carefully before contributing content. If you do not agree to these Terms of Use, please do not contribute content. Your use of the Site is subject to the Terms and Conditions found here .

By contributing content to the Site, you represent and warrant that you are at least eighteen (18) years old and that you have read and understand these Terms of Use and any amendments thereto and agree to be bound by them. If you are not at least eighteen (18) years old or you do not agree and accept these Terms of Use, you are prohibited from contributing content.

From time to time, we may permit users to submit content to the Site. You hereby acknowledge and agree that by submitting remarks, comments, suggestions, ideas, graphics, feedback, edits, concepts, comments, photographs, illustrations and other materials (other than personal information and/or registration information) through the Site (individually and collectively, “Submissions”), you (i) grant us a nonexclusive, royalty-free, perpetual, transferable, irrevocable and fully sub-licensable right to use, reproduce, modify, adapt, translate, distribute, publish, create derivative works from and publicly display and perform such Submissions throughout the world in any media, now known or hereafter created, without attribution to you; (ii) grant us the right to pursue at law any person or entity that violates your and/or our rights in your Submissions; and (iii) forever waive any and all of your rights, including but not limited to moral rights, if any, in and to your Submissions, including, without limitation, any all rights or requirements of attribution or identification of you as the author of the Submission or any derivative thereof. We reserve the right to remove any of your Submissions from the Site, in whole or in part, without notice to you, for any reason or no reason.

Submissions are made voluntarily. Any submissions which include personally identifiable information are subject to our Privacy Policy found here . You may not upload or otherwise publish content on the Site that (i) is confidential to you or any third party; (ii) is untrue, inaccurate, false or other than an original work of your authorship; (iii) that relates to or impersonates any other person; (iv) violates the copyright, trademark, patent or other intellectual property rights of any person or entity; (v) contains any content, personally identifiable information or other information, or materials of any kind that relate or refer to any other person or entity other than the provider of the products, goods or services to which the Submission relates; or (vi) violates any law, or in any manner infringes or interferes with the rights of others, including but not limited to the use of names, information, or materials that (A) libel, defame, or invade the privacy of any third party, (B) are obscene or pornographic, (C) are harmful, threatening, offensive, abusive, harassing, vulgar, false or inaccurate, racially, sexually, ethnically or are otherwise objectionable or otherwise contrary to the laws of any place where such Submissions may be accessed; (D) constitute personal attacks on other individuals; (E) promote criminal, immoral or illegal activity; (F) promote or advertise any person, product or service or solicit funds; or (G) are deemed confidential by any contract or policy.

You are solely responsible for any Submissions you make and their accuracy. We take no responsibility and assume no liability for any Submissions posted by you or any third party.

Unless approved by us in writing in advance, you agree not to: (i) provide or create a link to the Site; or (ii) create any frames at any other sites pertaining to any of the content located on the Site.

We reserve the right, in our discretion, to update, change or replace any part of these Terms of Use for Posting Comments by posting updates and/or changes to our Site. It is your responsibility to check this page periodically for changes. Your continued use of, and/or access to the Site, following the posting of any changes to these Terms of Use for Posting Comments, constitutes your acceptance of those changes.